FG Orders Immediate Withdrawal of Passports From Nigerians Who Renounced Citizenship

The Federal Government has directed the immediate withdrawal and deactivation of Nigerian international passports belonging to individuals who have formally and legally renounced their citizenship.

The directive was issued by the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, and conveyed through his media aide, Alao Babatunde, according to official government communications.

The order instructs the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) to identify and deactivate all passports belonging to persons whose renunciation of Nigerian citizenship has been duly processed and approved by the President.

Officials clarified that the policy does not affect dual citizens or pending applications, but strictly applies to individuals whose citizenship renunciation has been completed under constitutional procedures.

The minister explained that once presidential approval is granted for renunciation, the affected individuals cease to be Nigerian citizens under the law, and therefore lose all rights associated with citizenship, including the use of Nigerian passports.

The policy is anchored on Section 29 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which provides that a citizen of full age who makes a declaration of renunciation, once registered and approved, shall no longer be recognised as a Nigerian citizen.

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According to the Interior Ministry, the possession of a Nigerian passport is a sovereign privilege reserved exclusively for citizens, and cannot be retained once citizenship is legally terminated.

The government said the move is part of broader ongoing passport and immigration reforms aimed at strengthening identity management, reducing document fraud, and enhancing border security.

Authorities added that the directive also seeks to improve the integrity of Nigeria’s travel documents system and prevent cases where non-citizens continue to benefit from Nigerian-issued identification.

“We will continue to strengthen systems that secure Nigeria’s borders, prevent identity fraud, preserve the sanctity of Nigerian citizenship, and facilitate legitimate travel,” Tunji-Ojo said.

The Nigeria Immigration Service has been tasked with enforcing the directive and ensuring immediate compliance across all relevant databases and passport control systems.

Security and policy analysts say the move aligns with global immigration practices where citizenship status directly determines eligibility for national travel documents.

However, legal experts note that enforcement must strictly follow due process, particularly in verifying official renunciation approvals issued through presidential authority.

The development comes amid wider reforms by the Tinubu administration to modernise Nigeria’s immigration system, identity verification framework, and border security architecture.

FG Orders Immediate Withdrawal of Passports From Nigerians Who Renounced Citizenship

Jigawa Ward Head Denies Viral Wedding Cancellation Over Tinubu Support

Confusion has continued to trail a viral report alleging that a father in Yalwawa community, Dutse, Jigawa State, cancelled his daughter’s wedding over the groom’s alleged support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC), with community leaders, family members, and residents now offering conflicting accounts.

The story, which spread rapidly across social media platforms, initially claimed that the wedding was called off due to political differences, sparking heated debates nationwide over the influence of politics on family decisions.

However, the Ward Head of Yalwawa, Ahmad Garba Yalwawa, has strongly dismissed the report, describing it as false, misleading, and malicious, saying no such incident occurred in the community.

He said he only became aware of the viral claim after it began circulating online and immediately launched an investigation to verify its authenticity.

According to him, several days of inquiries within the community yielded no evidence that any wedding was cancelled for political reasons.

“I investigated from Friday up to Tuesday evening, but no one could confirm witnessing such an incident. That alone raised serious doubts about the credibility of the story,” he said.

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He added that attention was later directed to a man identified as Muhammadu Sani, whose daughter reportedly got married on the same day referenced in the viral report. However, the ward head said Sani denied any connection to the allegation.

“He confirmed that his daughter’s wedding took place successfully and she is now in her husband’s home. There was no cancellation or controversy,” he said.

The ward head further warned that investigations are ongoing to identify those responsible for spreading the misinformation, noting that legal action could be taken against the originators of the false report.

In a separate clarification, Muhammadu Sani himself also dismissed the viral claim, saying he only became aware of the story after it circulated online and that he does not use social media.

“I heard about it like everyone else. My daughter’s wedding took place as planned. I have nothing to do with politics,” he said.

He explained that the marriage followed traditional Fulani customs and was arranged within the family, adding that the bride is now living with her husband.

However, the Chairman of the Yalwawa Development Association, Umar Kazaure, offered a slightly different account, stating that while the wedding eventually held, there was a minor disagreement that was later resolved through community intervention.

He suggested that any tension may have been influenced more by personal or economic frustrations than political affiliation.

As of the time of filing this report, the identity of the groom remains unclear, while efforts to reach him for comment were unsuccessful.

Residents say the situation has since calmed, but the episode has left behind a trail of confusion, highlighting how quickly misinformation spreads in local communities and fuels national debate.

The incident has now become a talking point on social media, with Nigerians divided between those who initially believed the viral claim and others who see it as another example of fake news distortion in the digital age.

Jigawa Ward Head Denies Viral Wedding Cancellation Over Tinubu Support

Nigeria’s Tax Reform Laws Contain Errors, Tinubu Minister Oyedele Confirms

The Minister of State for Finance, Taiwo Oyedele, has admitted that Nigeria’s recently introduced tax reform laws contain errors, confirming that the federal government is already working on corrections through a new legislative review process.

Oyedele made the disclosure during a fireside chat at the 2026 annual conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Section on Legal Practice, themed “From Policy to Practice: Making Sense of Nigeria’s New Tax Reforms.”

He explained that the inconsistencies in the new tax framework were introduced during the drafting and legislative stages, describing them as the result of manual processes, multiple revisions, and technical lapses.

According to him, the government is now working with the National Assembly to review the affected sections and ensure a cleaner, more coherent legal framework going forward.

The Fiscal Reforms Committee, in a statement shared on social media, also confirmed that the minister acknowledged that errors occurred due to multiple layers of review and version control challenges during the lawmaking process.

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Oyedele, however, assured Nigerians that the errors do not invalidate the broader purpose of the reforms, stressing that a proposed Finance Bill will be introduced to correct identified issues and strengthen implementation.

He emphasised the need for a more transparent legislative process, noting that all versions of tax laws should be publicly accessible to prevent confusion and ensure accountability.

“What we need is a more transparent and reliable legislative process where every version of a law is publicly available,” he said.

The minister further clarified that the implementation of the new tax reforms under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration will not be arbitrary, insisting that the framework is built on principles of fairness, transparency, and economic efficiency.

He explained that one of the core goals of the reforms is to fix long-standing distortions in Nigeria’s tax system, particularly the imbalance between personal and corporate taxation, which he said has discouraged business formalisation.

Oyedele also noted that inconsistent tax policies in the past had weakened investor confidence, adding that stability and predictability are critical for economic growth.

“If policies can change overnight, it sends the wrong signal to investors. Consistency is critical,” he said.

Addressing concerns about fairness, he stressed that the new framework is designed to protect low-income earners and small businesses from excessive taxation.

He revealed that nearly half of working Nigerians earn less than ₦70,000 monthly, adding that taxing such groups heavily would be economically unjust and counterproductive.

Oyedele also explained that the reforms remove minimum tax obligations for loss-making companies, arguing that such provisions previously amounted to taxing capital rather than profit.

The minister further called for improved efficiency in tax collection and revenue utilisation, noting that Nigeria still lags behind peer economies in terms of tax-to-GDP performance.

Economic analysts say the admission highlights both the complexity and urgency of Nigeria’s ongoing fiscal and tax reform agenda, which aims to broaden the tax base, reduce evasion, and improve revenue generation without stifling businesses.

The development comes as stakeholders continue to scrutinise the implementation of the new tax laws, with expectations that the forthcoming Finance Bill will provide clearer legal backing and resolve outstanding inconsistencies.

Nigeria’s Tax Reform Laws Contain Errors, Tinubu Minister Oyedele Confirms